Posted by David
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jan 14, 2008 at 4:03 pm

I have been a Hetch Hetchy water system resident for twenty years. Dirty and or cloudy water is a frequent occurence after storms or even after road or plumbing work. I have never had a problem using such water in all these years.
However, in Feb. 2004 when the Hetch Hetchy system switched from the use of chlorine for disinfection to a chemical called cloramine, things changed dramatically.
The day chloramine came into our water, my family and I started getting severe dry and itching skin when washing in the water, sinus congestion and breathing difficulties when showering or inhaling water vapor from boiling tap water, and acid reflux type symptoms when we consumed the tap water. None of us ever had symptoms like these before. Our doctors could not find the cause or a cure.
Then I saw an article in one of our local papers about other people who had similar problems after the switch to cloramine. They had found relief from their symptoms by substituting bottled spring water for all their needs instead of tap water. My family and I were desperate because the symptoms were worsening over time. We decided to try bottled spring water even though it was expensive and difficult to use, especially for bathing. IT WORKED! All our symptoms cleared up. If we forget and use chloraminated water, our symptoms return.
We now use sping water for everything; cooking, drinking, bathing, brushing our teeth etc. I long for the days when we could just get water from the tap without getting sick.
If you think you may be suffering from chloramine too, go to: www. chloramine.org. Or call 650-328-0424.

Posted by CorrectingWalter
a resident of Palo Alto Orchards
on Jan 15, 2008 at 9:22 am

Sorry Walt, those chlorination "end products" aren't a "theoretical" danger - they cause cancer.
(Of course, I guess global warming is still "theoretical" in your mind as well - at least until the Bay water starts lappping up at your doorstep from the ice melt.)

Researcher Dr. Richard Bull, at the "Disinfection And Disinfection ByProducts Symposium" in Vermont on water treatment held Nov.1 2007, stated that the fears about chlorine's disinfection byproducts (DBP's) like THM's and HAA's are unfounded.
He is an experienced researcher in the area of water disinfection and DBP's. He extensively reviewed the scientific literature on chlorine's DBP's and found that the cancer, reproductive and developmental health concerns were based on poor science.
The EPA decided to regulate these DBP's when no threat to public health was established. Utilities switched from chlorine to chloramine (a virtually unstudied disinfectant in terms of health effects) as a cheap way to meet the new regulations.
We the public are now suffering the consequences of this irresponsibility.

Posted by Clarification
a resident of another community
on Jan 16, 2008 at 5:26 pm

Chemicals vary greatly in their relative toxicities. Some chemicals are poisonous even in tiny doses. Other chemicals are only toxic in very large doses - like water. Chloramine is more toxic than chlorine in equivalent doses, certainly for aquatic life and apparently for humans as well (as shown in recent studies on swimming pool water). A higher dose of chloramine is used to disinfect tap water than chlorine since it is a much less effective biocide. This spells trouble for chloraminated tap water users.

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